Self-contained projecting-lantern.



R. M. DIXON.

SELF CONTAINED PROJEGTING LANTERN.

APPLICATION men Aue.|2,'191o.

Patented; May 18, 1915.

3 SHEETSSHEET 1.

WITNESSES:

R. M. DIXON.

SELF CONTAINED PROJECT-1N6 LANTERN. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 12. 1910.

1,139,852 Patented May18,1915.

'3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

INVENTOR WITNESSES:

THE NORRIS PETERS CD. PHOTC-LITHQ, WASHINGTON. D. C.

R. M. DIXON.

SELF CONTAINED PROJECHNG LANTERN.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 12, 1910.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3- um a e 12 l 4 as 2 8 a I g 3| 2 an 605'- 39 2-9, 5 i f us E 1 o A s 2| 1 Y 4| 1 2 I 6 1 343i a 1:3 I 5 F i- 31 a as :1 E 1 I6 I I i v 5 150 i I I 1 1 513- WlT/VESSES: I. I/WEIVZO/i' THE NORR.'S PETERS 60.. PHOYO-LITHQ. WASHING ruN, D. c

ROBERT M. DIXON, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

SELF-CONTAINED rnoJEorINe-LANTERN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 12, 1910. Serial No. 576,859.

T0 all whom it may concern: e

Be it known that I, Boennr M. DIXON, citizen of the United States, residing at East Orange,in thecounty of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements ProjectingLanterns, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others'skilled in the art to which it appertains to make, and use the same.

paratus suitable for automobiles and other vehicles, and more particularly to projecting-lanterns deriving light from mantles maintained in a state of incandescence by the combustion of a normally liquid fuel.

Certain advantages, especially characteristic of this invention prominently appear'in its more intense aspect as a unitary or selfcontained structure comprising in a compact, closely arranged manner a vaporburner composed of an alcohol-vaporizer" and means for burning the vapor to heat a mantle, a reservoir in a fixed relation with said burner adapted to contain alcohol under pressure and to force the same upwardly to said burner, a llgllt-PI'OJGCtOI, a

ventilator and a suitable housing, and therefore the following detailed description may preferred advantageouslyibe directed to this embodiment of the invention.

The principal purpose of this invention is to provide a pro ecting lantern adapted to project a powerful beam of light and capable of being subjected ,tominclement weather andstrong air currents without pro ducing a flicker of light or otherwise unduly attecting its operation and reliability, and'to provide adevice using such fuels'as denatured alcohol and of such simpliclty'as to require little skill and attention on the part of the user. i

' A further objectiwithinthe contemplation of this inventi'onis toqcomp'actly cotirdinate, in an inexpensive, eflicient and essentially practical manner; a vapor burner having a preheater' foravaporizing alcohol and thenburning' the samefto maintain a globular mantle in state of incandescence,

a reflectorsomounted that the'products'of combustion will uprise therethrough lIlilO the preheatenand in which themantle shall have its fzone ,of maximum illumrnating power arrangedin the focusof the reflector so as to secure the highest 'efliciency, and a in Self-Contained This invention relates to illuminating apliquid-fuel reservoir of the air-pressure type i for supplying the burner with fuel.

Other ObJGCtS will be in part obvious from the, annexed illustrative drawings and in part set: forth inxthe following description.

I Patented May is, 1915 In such drawings, which are to be re-" garded as typical of the many contemplated embodiments of this invention, like characters ofreference denote corresponding parts throughout all the views, of which: 7

Figure l is a plan view of a projecting lantern embodying. this invention; Fig. .2 is

a vertical. transverse section taken. along line 22 of Figs. 1 and 3; and Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section taken alongv lines 3-8 of, Figs. 1 and 2.

Continuing now by way of a more detailed description, referring from time to time to the drawings as indicatedby the characters of reference, it may be stated that ,the shown structure. comprises three main elements'in a unitary and closely assembled relationship, 2'. 6., the overlying burner provided with an alcohol-vaporizer, an inspirator and a depending burner tube leading in a nearly horizontal direction at* its lower end and terminating in an incandescing device, the reservoir set below the burner and behmd the reflector for deliveringthrough air-pressure a suitable combuse tible fuel to said burner, and the reflector ifor projecting the light in the form of a powerful beam and adapted to'permit the products of combustionto pass through the alcohol-i' aporizen, *These main elements will preferably be housed and held in an assembled and operative manner by means of an ornamental and in \many respects convert,

tional casing or lantern-body.

Therescrooir for containing alcohol underaz'r pressurc:-This element is indicated generally by the character A and is shown more clearly by Fig. 3. The reservoir A may bein the form of a cylindrical tank cons sting of the two spun orstamped p eces 2 winch are secured of sheet metal 1 and together by the fiuidtight seamB. The

tank or reservoir A is preferably disposed in the reari end of the lantern-body} orcasing B so as to'be behind and 1n coaXlal relation with thereflector and maybe supported,

asshownfbymeans of one or more suit; able --lugs or brackets l, which aresecured; by screws or otherwise to the lanternbody-a so ,as to'space the reservoir therefrom where by-Iitwillbe heat insulated and thus pre vent its temperature from unduly rising through the heat given ofi by the burner under extreme conditions. 7 may furthermore be centered by means of a stud 5, which is rotatably mounted in the boss 6 of the lantern-body andhas a screws threaded-ste1n'7 which engages thethreaded T apertureof the socket 8 securedtothe wall of the reservoir.

vided, and preferably such inletisso constructed as to enable airto be pumpedinto p otherwise secured at y wall ofithe reservoir.

' der pressure.

I with an extension 10 having its lower end vportions of the reservoir,

11 terminating well below The purpose of this is to prevent the reservoir being filled with too great a'quantity of alcohol. That is to say, when the liquid fu'elis poured into the inlet 9 it will run down the tubular extension 10 and continue to drain away unrises til 'the llevel of the liquid in the reservolr a little above the lower end 11 of such tube, whereupon such tubularextension 1O will-then fill with alcohol and the operator will thus be'notifi'ed that suiiicient fuel is in the reservoir and no moremay beadded.

i Theupper end of the fuelinlet 9 isthreaded or otherwise provided with means whereby; the large cap '12 may beaifixed thereto with an air-tight connection," A washer '13 of] a the likefmay be 1 f used for the purpose of insuring-tightness;

"When, the alcohol rises in thetubular] extension 10 at the end or the operation of as shownby, Fig. 3, that thevapor'enters filling, the addition of alcohol is discontinued and the tube closed by means-of the 7 rubber, leather, asbestos or J cap 12; This cap 12 is preferably-also provided with an air checlr'valve 14 0f some suitable type,

tires, so that the operator, after removing Jthe usual closure cap 15 may, by means of the unitary burner an air pump, force air into the'reserv'oir until the pressure therein has risen'to the" It will be perceived that the,

desired point.

' down the tubular extension 10 liquid down such tube until ,The vaporizing,

means for heating" the mantZe.-fThese1ele- I emsaa be said tof constitute parts of V V V indicatedfgenera-lly C," and: willbe described in the sequence "in,

The reservoir located In an (upper portion of said reservoir, an inlet for the fuel :lSLPlO- the uppermost such as that commonly used connection with bicycle and automobile ma am" tamin i'they vact as the fuel delivered under pressure by the reservoir A. The pipe 16 which leads upwardly toward thepreheating, vaporizing and superheating coils, is

provided with what may be termed a capacity coil 17 This capacity coil is'preferably between the reflector andjthe outer wall of the lantern casing, as for instance atone side, as shown by Fig. 2, adjacent the heat-insulating shellon which the burnerbody may be directly mounted, and about half way inelevation between the burnerbody and the lower end of the tube 16 The purpose or, this capacity coil 17 is toenhance the evenness ofthe operation of the burner byelongating the path of the fuel traveling toward the preheating andvaporizing coil; .Thus, in. case the. fuel should be too abruptly vaporizedror expanded in the-coil, thecapacity coil 17 will accorn modate a considerable back flow of the fuel withouttenabling the'vaporized fuel to enter the reservoir and disturb the equality of the pressure thereof. The upper end of the tube 16; connects with the extremity 1-8 of c or may be integral witha pipe which is bent through several convolutions to 'form the preheating and vaporizing coil 19. This 1 coil '19 preferably circumscribes the upper portionof the burner-body and, as the alco-:

hol flowsfthrough' the various convolutions' ofthis coil (which is within the path of the rising products of combustion) the iuelgtakes' up heat from the coil and is thus vaporized and finally discharged through the pipe-20 which leads downwardly to the superheat- Iing coil 21 whereby the vapor is'then raised to a temperature appreciablyabove its va-c porizing point and is brought in condition suitable forbeing" mixed with air.-The su perheating coil 21 is preferably so connected,

at'its'upper lend andleaves at'its lower end which, being nearer bustlon, s atza higher temperature= In the shown j arrangement, :the superheating coil is disposed at the forward slde of the burner the like, which brought to bear tightly 22. provided-with a vertical here which is mternally screw-threaded'to.receive the valve stern '26,"fwhich preferably terminates fat its to the point of co I plej-(SG may servel..to retain thejpipeZQ in place-by means of a packing-of asbestos or I I 12-5 4 against the expanded extremity of the tube I The bo'dyiportion23 :of -the burner is V 1,139352 I a I upper end in a wrench fitting 27, and also terminates at its lower end in a closure valve 28 and a jet regulating valve 29, as will be readilyapparent from Fig. 8. A nipple 26 serves to compress packing around the valve stem and'maintain a tight joint. The orifice closed by the jet valve 29 is so arranged asto deliver a jet of superheated vapor downwardly and directly into the upper end of the burner tube 30 and, by the principle of injection, also serves to draw in and intermix with the vapor such quantities of air as maybe required for a satisfactory combustible mixture through the air inlet 31 which leads horizontally at right angles through the body portion of the burner and connects with an air inlet tube 82 which has its receiving aperture" arranged outside of the chimney away from the rising products of combustion and preferably at a point Within a ventilating hood where it may receive the fresh air required without being subjected to the disturbing influences of airdrafts.

The burner. tube 30 preferablyassumes the form shown by Fig. 3, 2'. e.,; it inclines downwardly and rearwardly sothat while its upper end may be within the path of the rising products of combustion so as to be heated thereby, its intermediate portion may be positioned outside of the reflector, and thus not unduly interfere with'th'e light projected by the latter; The lower.

end of the burner tube then inclines for- 'wardly and downwardly at a relatively low an le and'enters the reflector a roxil es mately at the node thereof and terminates within said reflector '21 short distance behind its focus. By having the end of'the burner tube dip at a lowangle, any condensed fuel will run to the delivery end and will not collect in the tube and by using such a low angle the mantle may be-retained in approximately a horizontal positionin the manner shown by the drawings. The lower extremity or delivery end of the burner tube maybe provided witha multiplicity of narrow, elongateddelivery'apen' I tures 33 tending to effectuallyprevent back firing, and it may also be provided with some suitable means for attaching thereto the base portion of a nantleunit, For example, the lower end of the burner may be externally screw-threaded, as indicated by 34, so that the hub 35 supporting the mantle 36 maybe readily. attached to the'same and,

with equal facility, be detached to enable mantle-units to be replaced in case of breakage or deterioration; By" virtue of this arrangement, the globular mantle 36 will be positioned directly-in the; focus of the reflector in ayer'y efiici'entmanner, That is to say, the zone of maximum illumination Of such a mantle Wlll be nthe posit on 1ndicated by the circumferential belt 37. As will be perceived, the light emitted by the same may therefore impinge directly on the walls of the reflector in a most effective manner. At the same time the obstruction of light due to the opaque parts of the burner tube are reduced to a minimum.

The combustion, of course, takes placeat the mantle and maintains the same in a state of. incandescence, and the products of combustion will rise upwardly and impinge directly against the burner tube as well as the superheating coil and thence pass upwardly around the body portion of the burner through the preheating and vaporiz-. ing coils, and will ultimately be discharged by the ventilator@ Preferably the abovementioned parts will be contained within a suitable chimney 38 which, together with the body portion of the burner, is mounted on a heat-insulating ring or shell 39. This shell is preferably arranged concentric. with the lantern casing and is spaced away from the same by relatively few 'supports,f such as those indicated by 40 on Fig. 2, so. that the shell 39 may serve to isolate the burner and parts thereof from any undue cooling influences and thereby enable the burner parts'to be maintained at the high temperature requisite for the best and most eflicient operation. The lower part 41 of. the chimney projects partly through the upper wall" of the reflector (which is cutaway locally.

to permit of ready remova'l)lso that the products of combustion may be better re ceived and directed upwardly To protect the alcoholreservoir against anundue'rise I in temperature, heat insulating ,means such asithe sheet of asbestos is preferably in-' terposed between the reservoir and the heated portions of the device. r The upper portion of the chimney terminates in a ventilator L2 of-suitable construction adapted to prevent gusts of air,

from being forced into the lamp by the mo.

provided with suitable air inlets, may be mounted on the lantern casing and the air inlet 32 preferably terminates within this hood d3 so as to withdraw fresh air therefrom, as shown more clearly by Fig.2. The upper part of the ventilator is formed by two dished plates stand 45 which admit air through the. circumferential opening 46. The baflier ng t7 circumscribes the opening 46' andiprevents external air currents from exercising a disturbing influence on the'outflowing products of combustion; The

. tion of the automobile. A hood 43, which is.

said parts may be inturn surmounted by a casing by means ing by; means of the hinge 55[ This door emitted by the'incandescent mantle 36 are rectified in direction and projected for wardly in parallelism with one another by means of a reflector 50, which is preferably constructed of spun or stampedmetalsuitably plated and-polished to provide jancefficient reflecting surface. This reflector, as has been stated, receives the lower extremity of the 'burnerytube through" its node, and

suchjreflector makes contact with theforwardend of the lantern'casing by means of its peripheral band 51 which fits snugly in place A and. is

suitable devices 52. 'By virtue of this'co struction Qthe reflector may-be very readily removedfor the purposes ofcleaning' and polishing" by simply taking off the mantle on the end'of the burner tube and turning the reflector until the pins of the, bayonet joints may pass through the open slots, and. then pulling the reflector forwardly.

door 53 which'has and ispivoted to the side of the lantern casmay be kept-closed byi 'the catch consisting of a pivoted lever 56 having an inturned I a"firm engagement with the swinging door to'close the same;

From the foregoing will be readily perceived that'ithe' herein 7 7 a unitary, compact, self-contained structure capable of being attached withoutdifliculty to a vehicle and constitutes a device in which alcohol. orother' suitable fuels may be used" the scopethereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or.

bining a reflector, a-vapor burner having "mes economically, conveniently and efliciently a s a source of powerful illuminationx- As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparentlywidely different embodiments of. this i invention could be made without departing from shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not 1n a l1m1t1ng sense.

that the language used in the following 7,

claims is intended to'cover all of the generic and specificfeaturesof the invention herein cdescribed and all statementsnofl the scope of the invention,.which, 'as-Ia'matter of language,

claim as new and, desire to secure by Letters 1 Patent is 1. A devicefof the naturedisclosed com:

its burner tube extending into, said reflector,

a mantle carried at the" end ofsaidtube and arrange'dfi'n operative relation withsaidfre detachably aflixed to such; ofbayonet joints or other i The for;

ward part of the lantern casing will be closed by means of the a glass partition '54 in 'its forward opening extremityez and a thumb screw 58 which may be operated to retain thelever 5 6 into disclosed lantern is It is also to be understood might be said to fall therebe= Having described my invention,v what'l flector,,areservoir adapted to contain under pressure liquid fuel for said burner and positioned whereby the level of the liquid'will underlies'aid burner, a valve for admitting air under pressure into said reservoir, and connections for enabling the liquid to flow upwardly under pressure to. said burner. 22A device of the nature disclosed combining a reflector, a chimney projecting downwardly through said reflector and terminating above the focus thereof, a burner body overlying said reflector having-portions within said chimney and having a burner tube extending .into said'reflectorp-f and a mantlesecured to the end of said burner tube at a'point directly underlying said chimney at a distance from the lower end thereof and in the focus of said reflector.

3. A device of the nature disclosed combining a casing,- a removable reflector in said casinggga heat insulated shellinterposed beter in line-with the axis of said reflector, and a burner body -pO$1t1QIl6d 2tbOV6 said l1ne and hav ng a burner tube terminating adjacent the focusof said reflectorg j .5; A deviceof the naturedisclosed combining' a lantern body, a burner mounted in an'upper portion thereof-and having a depending chimney, areflector removable from said lantern body and cut away in its' upper part tofreceive the lower portion of said chimney, and means for supplying said burnerwith combustible vapor. 6 .v Adevice of the nature disclosed combin-i ing a reflector, a vapor burner in operative relation therewith and having; a burner tube projecting {from said'reflector and ter-i ninatmg n ail-{end portion ncl ned at an angle to the axis OfSZLlCl reflector so as to' discharge by gravity, and means for supplying said burner with-a combustible vapor."

7. device of the nature disclosedrcombm n "a reflector a va orburner in over D 9 i l for said burner, and heat insulating means interposedbetween said reflector and said reservoir.- i

- 8. A device of the nature disclosed, comative relation therewith, a'rese'rvoir for fuel bi'ning a lantern casing, refle'ctor,a vapor burner inf saidcasing in operative relation tof the reflector, a reservoir, connections between said reservoir and said vapor burner, "an d-a capacity .coilrin said casing'finterposed. in said connections distance "froin the" path of the'products of' combustion of said ;9. A" device of :nature com-1 said vapor burner and extending part way into said reflector, and avsuper-heating coil arranged in said chimney within the path of the rising products of combustion.

11. A device of the nature disclosed combining a reflector, a vapor burner abovesaid reflector and positioned rearwardly of the forward extremity thereof and having a depending burner tube passing downwardly through the wall of said reflector at a slight angle to the axis thereof and terminating adjacent the focus thereof, a suitable inclosure for said parts, said burner with combustible material.

12. Adevice of the nature disclosed combining a lantern body, a heat insulating shell internally supported by said lantern body but spaced away therefrom, arcflector arranged within said lantern body and extending into said heat insulating shell so as to be partiallycircumscribed at its rear thereby, a vapor burner carried by said heat insulating shell having a burner tube leading throughthe wall of said reflector and terminating adjacent the focus thereof, and a globular mantle having an opening between its uppermost and lowermost portions and adapted to internally receive the combustible mixture from said burner tube through said opening.

13. A device of the nature disclosed combining a lantern body, a reflector arranged therein, a heat insulating shell interposed between and spaced from said body and said reflector so as to circumscribe portions of the latter, a burner carried by said shell and having a burner tube extending through the wall of said reflector and terminating adjacent the focus thereof, a reservoir of the air-presure type mounted at the rear of said reflector within'the lantern body, and heat insulating means interposed between said reservoir and said reflector.

14. A device of the nature disclosed com bining a lantern body, a reflector arranged therein, a vapor burner having a burner tube projecting through the center of the surface of said reflector and terminating rearwarclly of the focus of said reflector, a mantle carried by the end of the burner tube whereby its equatorial zone of maximum intensity will occupy the said focus, a reservoir adapted to contain a liquid fuel under and means forsupplying pressure supported by said lantern body and connections for supplying said burner with fuel from said reservoir.

15. A device of the nature disclosed combining a reflector, a vapor burner having a burner tube extending into said reflector, a mantle carried atthe end of said tube and ar ranged in operative relation with said reflector, a reservoir adapted to contain under pressure liquid fuel for said burner and positioned in for supplying said burner with fuel from said reservoir, and a coil of numerous convolutions interposed in said connections at a distance from said burner and said reservoir and adapted to prevent vaporized fuel being forced into said reservoir by back pressure.

16. A device of the nature disclosed, combining a reflector, a member for heating and vaporizing fuel, and an inverted burner having a portion disposed in the rear of said reflector adapted to receive fuel from said member. v

17. A device of the nature disclosed, combi ing a reflector, an inverted burner having a portion adjacent its burning oriflceprojecting through said reflector, and a conduit for fuel arranged to receive heat from said burner.

18. A device of the nature disclosed, com: bining a casing, a vaporizer supported thereby, a reflector held in said casing, a burner disposed in front of the reflector and adapted to heat the vaporizer, a fuel reservoir supported within the casing, sageways connecting said reservoir and said burner through said vaporizer and extend- I ing rearwardly through said reflector.

19. In a device of the nature disclosed, in

posed concave reflector, a mantle within the reflector, a fuel reservoir having its center in line with the axis of said reflector, and means adapted to conduct the fuel to the mantle comprising a burner tube, the reflector having an opening above the mantle communicating with the space in which the mantle is located, through which products of combustion from the mantle pass, said fuel conducting means comprising a pipe located inthe path of the products of combustion adapted to heat the fuel.

20. In a device of the nature disclosed, in combination, a substantially vertically disposed concave reflector, a mantle within the reflector, a fuel reservoir having its center in line with the axis of said reflector, and means adapted to conduct the fuel to the mantle comprising a burner tube transverse to the wall of the reflector, the reflector having an opening above the mantle communicating with the space in which the mantle is located, through which products of combust on fr m the mantle pass, said fuel conrear of the reflector, connections means adapted to conduct the fuel to the comprising a burner tube forwardly ducting means comprising a the path of the products adapted to heat the fuel.

21. In a device of the nature disclosed, in combination, a substantially vertically disposed concave reflector, a mantle ithin the reflector, a fuel reservoir having its center in line with the axis of said reflector, andof combustion vmantle entering said reflector adjacent the axis 7 thereof, the reflector having an opening above the mantle communicating with the space in which the mantle is located,through which products of combustion from the mantle pass, said fuel conducting means comprising a pipe located in the path of the products of combus ion adapted to heat the fuel. Y

22. Ina device of the nature disclosed, in combination, a substantially vertically disposed concave reflector, a mantle within the reflector, a fuel reservoir having its center locatedin the path of the products of combustion adapted to heat the fuel.

28. Ina device ofthe nature disclosed, in

combination, a lantern body, a substantially vertically disposed concave reflector 'arpipe located in V I of combustion rrom flector having an opening above the mantle communicating with the space in which the through which products the mantle pass, said fuel conducting means comprising a pipe mantle is located,

located in the path of the products of combustion adapted to heat the fuel.

'24. In a device of the nature disclosed, in combination, a lantern body, asubstantially vertically disposed concave reflector arranged therein, 'a mantle within the reflector, a liquid fuel reservoir carried by saidbody, and means adapted to conduct the fuel to themantle comprising a burner tube terminating adjacent the'focus of said reflector, said mantle being mounted on the end of the burner tube so as to have apfuel conducting means comprising a pipe proximately a horizontal'position,thecrelocated in the path of the products of combustion adapted to heatthe fuel,

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses= g r ROBERT M. DIXON. Witnesses: r v I f R. S. BLAIR,

L. F. WATSON.

7 Copies of this patent may be obtained forifive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of i E atents,

Washington, D. 0. 

